Inquiry Precision Reptile Labs

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Wow long time ago, those were good days! Glad to hear your doing well. I have partnered up with my long time friend Nick. We are going to expand domestic sales and scale back on international. Nicks a hell of a good breeder, and we are working on some exciting projects. We have created a dream facility in Boynton. Website will be out soon. Nice to hear from you! "We are still reptile collectors"

 

[charleshanklin]

For some reason I just knew that Nick from dark forest reptiles was in the middle of this. Hope everything works out for you .

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Thanks Charles! I sincerely appreciate it. Things are going very well for us. You should have known Boynton is my home turf. Ha Ha. How have you been? Looking forward to Laurens show? I know how judgmental this forum can be so i try to stay low key. I hope your business is well and ill see you next weekend.

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

So Charles is correct and you are partnered with Nick from Dark Forest Reptiles?

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Correct John, he said he knows you from local shows and your a good guy. We just opened a 17 acre breeding facility in west Boynton. He is producing some killer animals!

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

BOI Threads on Dark Forest Reptiles:

09/06/04
07/02/07
08/06/07
11/18/07

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Get a life Stephanie

 

[TripleMoonsExotic]

Get a life Stephanie

Have one, thanks.
Guess your pledge to earn some respect on the forum wasn't exactly a valid one, huh? It stinks, but you have to realize that anyone you choose to partner with will reflect on you.

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Well that's a good thing considering Nick has more experience and education than 85% of this entire forum.
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64708&stc=1&d=1225949485
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64709&stc=1&d=1225949485

Check out our albino FL Snapper, culmination of a 5 year project.

 

[MikeCurtin]

So Jerry, are you his "front man"? What happened to Dark Forest? This is not sarcasm: Did he resolve all past disputes before you entered into a business deal with him? I am a strong believer in a person's ability to change, and I hope for your sake, Nick is not the same person today as he was in those threads from way back last year. Good luck.

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

Nicky is still the front man, he has taken me on to handle "Permitting" and manage his exporting operation. Nick is the same person he has always been, unfortunately these threads are a bunch of BS. Anyone who has ever met Nick will tell you he is a great guy and a tremendous business man. His enthusiasm and personality are intoxicating. When it all comes down to it this whole BOI is just for show and tell. Clearly the customers who give bad reviews outnumber the good ones. Happy people keep it to themselves, while angry ones tell everyone. We are doing big things!! Keep your eye out for us.

 

[Precision Reptile Labs]

As for the threads last year, we all know that in our industry there are some WAKO customers. They don't know crap about business or animals for that matter. Facts are, this BOI will not effect our business at all. Our quality speaks for its self, and for every Nick Nay sayer, there is 100 supporters. Believe me i see the invoice flowing in, and i field calls from satisfied customers ALL day. If anyone reads this thread i only hope they give us a fair shot, and ignore the Slander.

 

[Suncoast Herpetological]

As for the threads last year, we all know that in our industry there are some WAKO customers. They don't know crap about business or animals for that matter. Facts are, this BOI will not effect our business at all. Our quality speaks for its self, and for every Nick Nay sayer, there is 100 supporters. Believe me i see the invoice flowing in, and i field calls from satisfied customers ALL day. If anyone reads this thread i only hope they give us a fair shot, and ignore the Slander.

If you close your eyes, you would swear that this last post was written by Dan Scolaro

 

[shrap]

If anyone reads this thread i only hope they give us a fair shot, and ignore the Slander.

Slander I could ignore. Your crappy attitude, the way you treat people, the way you insult the people of this forum I cant ignore.

 

[hhmoore]

Mr Abel,
The BOI is not the venue to showcase your animals/projects

 

[John E Dove]

Nicky is still the front man, he has taken me on to handle "Permitting" and manage his exporting operation. Nick is the same person he has always been, unfortunately these threads are a bunch of BS. Anyone who has ever met Nick will tell you he is a great guy and a tremendous business man. His enthusiasm and personality are intoxicating. When it all comes down to it this whole BOI is just for show and tell. Clearly the customers who give bad reviews outnumber the good ones. Happy people keep it to themselves, while angry ones tell everyone. We are doing big things!! Keep your eye out for us.

Mr Abel,
I believe that your statement above clearly demonstrates your lack of business ethics which would seem to make your Dark Forest partnership/rename "Precision Reptile Labs" just another case of attempting to avoid the bad rap earned by your partner.
You say of your partner that "His enthusiasm and personality are intoxicating.", that is typical of any good con-artist.
Your dismissal of the following unresolved complaints as BS along with the typical claim that the BOI does not hurt your business sets you clearly in the middle of that elite group of people who most honest people go out of their way to avoid.
You think unresolved complaints do not harm your business?
You are not to bright, they already have. Most people do not both even contacting ethically challenged businesses so you will never know how many thousands of dollars your attitude has cost you.

Dark Forest Reptiles is an absolutely awful and abysmal establishment at best. An absolute torture to do business with. Aside from their negligent photos of Pacman frogs eating dead and bloated pacman frogs (obvious victimes of redleg) on their website, they take even less care in shipping live animals. I ordered a Budgett's frog from them and it arrived in an uncooled and lacklusterly packaged box. No significant padding was used to secure the flailing deli cup, no ice packs, nothing. Mind you, this was from Florida to Arizona, the hottest state in the union. The package also came at 3pm, not 10:30am as they promised, they knew damn well the frog wasn't shipped next day prioriry, rather basic next day, allowing the fragile creature to boil to death. I tried countless times to get tracking numbers and to simply contact someone in regards to my rights as their customer, and Nick, the owner, would just ignore me and say he'd call me back or send me an email, then mysteriously vanish for the rest of the day every time I called back... Needless to say I never got a response. It was like pulling teeth just to get some common courtesy out of these clowns.
When I finally got in touch, he RUDELY (as if I should feel guilty about complaining about his halfassed business ethics and disgusting packaging) said he'd send a replacement frog....and never did, rather he refunded my money without telling me and lead my on a wild goose chase waiting for a frog that never came.

I highly suggest you NEVER buy from Dark Forest Reptiles. I know I'm not the only person to have had negative experiences with them, and I surely wouldn't wish it upon anyone. The biggest shame is that so many animals have to be subjected to such atrocious treatment....I mean no precautions where taken in the shipping of this poor, living, breathing animal. A true pity.

Good riddance to bad rubbish!

I ordered a male green Anaconda from these jokers, and it was the worst experience. He was shipped out on Mon. July 23, and he was supposed to be delivered the next day before 7:00pm. Well, on Tues. I entered my tracking number and the website said he was scheduled to arrive 2nd day air!! I called Nick, and he looked on the Fed-Ex website and saw that he was being shipped second day air. He told me he would make a call and call me RIGHT back. Well, I waited for at least an hour, and no call. I called him back again, and he said he was waiting for a call back, but that they said a lot of the time the computer info. is inaccurate. He said he would still arrive by 7opm. I eventually called Fed-Ex back and it was apparent that he wasn't getting here until Wed. sometime. I was pretty mad by this time, and called back and had to talk to a guy (Brian) I think. He told me Nick had left for the day. I voiced my concern about the snake, because the weather has been soo hot here. He assured me that snakes can withstand temps. of 150 degrees and that he would be fine. Okay, so there isn't a living animal, except for certain forms of bacteria that can take that temp. for any length of time. He claimed neither he or Nick shipped the animal 2nd day air, and that the error was made by Fed-Ex. I then asked if I would get my money back if the animal arrived dead. He said they don't give cash back, and that they would get me another snake. I told him I didn't want another snake, and that if he was dead, I didn't want to do business with them. He then told me to not get irate with him. As you can see, this was going nowhere. He kept talking over me, and I couldn't get a word in anywhere. He gave me alot of false information. I hung up on him, and prayed my snake would make it here alive. He arrived today, Wed. and he's okay. Apart from being mad because he's in shed, he looks like he's in pretty good shape. I would definitely not do business with these losers again. I hope he really is a male, because I didn't want a female. Also, I think they owe me something, because 2nd day air doesn't cost as much. I paid $300 for this boy. Does anyone think I should gripe at Nick further? I really don't want to talk to anyone there again, but this experience has made me mad! They are not trustworthy, so please avoid them if you can. -Amy

I Turned Nick Nistico into kingsnake they sent me a mail order Fraud forum i filled out i also spoke with Ray Sr at strictly reptiles an ray told me to shoot him an email an said he might be able to do somthin about what nick did to me what that was i will never know however if i ever see Nick nistico face to face all beat the stuffing right outa him for what that scumbag did to me hes a miserable Excuse for a Human Life an he doesint deserve to be in the Herp community period i basically sent him 2 western union money orders one for 500.00 an the other for 75.00 once he cashed both money orders he then told me he shipped out the crocodile monitor an i would recieve it within 2 days which would have been a wednesday well wednesday came around i called him up an he told me that brian his buddy that works at dark Forest reptiles was Bit by a 7ft croc monitor they also had on hand in the store at that time an that they were moving the 7ft croc he claimed the 7ft croc monitor bit brian through the bag it was in an that brian had to go to the hospital so he said he would ship it out the following monday the crocodile monitor he had gotton for me was 36inches from tip of the snout to tip of the tail. thats the lie he was telling me then monday came around i couldint get ahold of him until wednesday then wednesday he told me he finally shipped it out an it would be arriving at my house friday before 3:00 pm friday came around an there was never a delivery i called the scumbag back up on the phone 2 days Later an he told me there was a mistake on the shipping so he Claimed that it showed back up at his shop an he would reship it so anyway he supposedly reshipped it the following wednesday an told me the same story the Following wednesday he told me the first time that it would be Reshipped TO my house via fed ex before 3:00 never showed up once again pretty much at that point i figured out that i was scammed by this Lowlife i called better business buroe i also turned him into the attorney generals office an the fish an game wild life thats about all i can do or take nick to small claims court however that would cost too much money to do

A few months ago they had an ad on kingsnake for a 9-10 ft male lavender albino retic for $1000 shipped. The animals was pretty much exactly what we were looking for at the time so we contacted them to inquire about the animal. After asking a few questions via email we were satisfied and went ahead and called and orded him and set up shipping for the next Monday. We had requested that the animal be shipped FedEx overnight as this is who we use. Everything during the phone conversations was fine and he even said the he would ship priority overnight. On Monday he called to confirm our shipping address and said he would call back shortly with a tracking number and to confirm the shipment. We waited to hear from him again, but he never called back with the shipping info. Not being overly concerned we didn't try to call back that day and figured that he just forgot and everything was still on for the next mornings delivery. The following day we were up early expecting the package to arrive before 10:30 being that it was supposedly shipped priority. 10:30 passed with no package and we assumed that either FedEx was late or he shipped standard overnight instead, which was no big deal. That afternoon we started to get a little worried so we called to try and get the tracking number. The person that picked up said that he had just left for lunch and to call back shortly, so we waited an hour or so and tried again. Calling for the second time we got pretty much the same response that we had just missed him, but we inquired about the shipment anyway and were told that the package was defiantly shipped the night before. By 6:00 that evening no package arrived and we assumed that FedEx had been at fault. Being that late in the day we decided to call FedEx first thing the next morning to inquire.

The next morning we called FedEx and told them that we had a package coming from us that should of been delivered the previous day. We gave them our address and they preceded to look up any packages that were headed our way. The lady on the phone said that their was no overnight shipments to us but their was one 2 Day shipment. We asked for the origin of that package and sure enough it was our albino due to arrive that day by 3:00. By this time we were extremely upset that we had been lied too and only hoped that the animal was ok. That afternoon around 2:00 the package finally arrived and we held our breath opening the box. Lucky the retic was alive but right off the bat we noticed that he had a fairly large population of mites on him and more disturbing a tick on his neck about the size of a pencil eraser.

Mites do suck but the fact that their was a large tick on him that had obviously been on him for awhile and was easily noticeable really angered us, not to mention he shipped 2 Day after telling us he would ship priority overnight and never calling us back after trying to contact him. We did the math and he saved about $25 sending it 2 Day instead of priority overnight. We would never send any reptile 2 Day, but this was a $1000 dollar animal. Bottom line this guy has no regard for the animals he's selling and is someone we certainly will not deal with again.

Sorry for the long post, below is a picture of the shipping label showing the 2 Day shipping method.

FWC cites exotic-pet shop owner; seizes reptiles

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) investigators took action against "Dark Forest Reptiles," an exotic-pet store in Boynton Beach, and cited the owner.

Nickolas Nistico, DOB 10/15/82, of Boynton Beach, was charged with three violations: possessing an American alligator without a permit, possessing reptiles of concern without a permit and exhibiting and selling without a permit. Mr. Nistico also received a warning for improper housing of an American alligator.

On Aug. 6, FWC investigators attempted to inspect Nistico’s store but found the Boynton Beach store vacated. Later, they found the store at another location, in Delray Beach.

Officers found the store open for business and Nistico exhibiting reptiles with an expired permit at an unpermitted location.

Nistico was in possession of a 3-foot alligator, which was caged in a manner giving the public easy access. He also was exhibiting a reticulated python without a permit.

FWC officers seized both reptiles.

Under the Wildlife Violator Compact, Nistico could face enhanced penalties, because he has been convicted of wildlife law violations in the past. Penalties could include a maximum $1,000 fine and a year in jail for each violation.

 

[Justin C]

I Knew It Would Happen

Nick, I guess I've found a thread about your company on Fauna. Bah ha ha.
I knew it was bound to happen andI'm not hear to bash, but to express my opinions.
I've been into chameleons for a couple of years now, so I'm by no means a novice.
But anyone that deals with reptiles knows that it takes several, several, years to actually know what you doing.
I've seen my share of chameleon companies show up and disappear at an alarming rate.
Even the larger, well respected companies that just suddenly "leave the hobby".
Months prior the owners claim that breeding is their absolute passion, yet they wash their hands of everything.....
I purchased a chameleon from Nick last week and it arrived on Tuesday.
To say the least, my second talk with Nick was not the way I wanted it to go.
I was a bit upset that my animal was sent Next Day Air Saver and not Next Day Air.
I have shipped my fair share of animals since I've started, and Nick has plenty of experience shipping a 1000x more chameleons then I.
Due to season weather patterns it wasn't a very big deal getting my animal at 1:30 in the afternoon, but during the summer I don't think it's an acceptable way to ship.
It can easily reach 100 degrees plus in the back of a UPS truck.
His boxing and packaging was top notch or par with the other well respected chameleon breeders in the industry.
To sum up my conversation about my call with Nick, he's a very nice guy.
I give him two thumbs up for customer service.

Being a small scale breeder, that looks for quality and pure locales, I had my fair share of questions for Nick.
My first flag was that he was offering Panther Chameleons for 1/3 the price of anyone else.
The purity of animals locales is the first thing I'm concerned about when breeding, as many of the dart frog guys might understand and agree.
The chameleon I purchased from Nick is a female Sambava Panther Chameleon.
One of the easiest ways to tell the locale of a chameleon is by it's coloration.
Their is a draw back though, you can't tell the locale of a female because they have no color, so I'm forced to take his word for it.
Only the males have flashy coloration that Panther Chameleons are known for.
Maybe I should have bought a pair to be sure...

I have also heard plenty of hocus pocus from breeders to close a deal.
Trying to make their animals sound better then another's.
My second flag was that Nick told me he traveled to Madagascar to pick his animals out for himself.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but definitely a flag.
Nosy be is an island located of the North West Coast of Madagascar.
Ambanja is located a short distance South on the mainland.
Sambava is located on the opposite coast almost directly across from Nosy Be.
Ambilobe is located in the North Central tip of the mainland.
Now it is completely possible that he traveled to all of these destinations.
It is also completely possible he plucked all of these animals off the trees and had them shipped to the States.

What broker did you go through to have them shipped over?

Anyways, this is NOT a bash.
IMO, I'd rate him has a good guy until proven otherwise.

Thanks for the chameleon, Nick.

Justin Carl

 

[KNOBTAIL]

Jerry Abel,

I started this thread because it appeared unusual for anyone in the industry as long as you claim you have been about your 4 hour guarantee after receipt of a reptile shipment,

and now we find out that you have been associated with someone who has nothing to provide this industry but misery. I read the articles in the Sun Sentinel about the abysmal conditions of his place of business and on the BOI about the atrociousness of Nicks shipments to people who wanted nothing more then what they saw advertised, yet never received or was continuously lied to and for no other reason other then trust had there funds stolen.

Now you are advertising on Kingsnake.. I am curious to know if Jeff Barringer knows your affiliations and that you have partnered up with Nick after receiving so many complaints about someone you seem to emulate.... Well here is an answer for you.. Jeff will know about it soon... There is no place for people who seem to admire a thief in this industry.. Not that you are, but there is an odor that can easily get transferred from one onion to another...

 

[KNOBTAIL]

Hi David Rivers

Yes you are correct, when I began in 66 things were different especially the abillity to know if and when any shipment was in the hands of the consignee.. You must remember, we had no way to determine when and if the shipment was picked up, if it even arrived on time, nor how long it was going to take to get paid... We could only guarantee live arrival, but 43 years ago, it was an accepted practice..

The liabilities were also limited because we were dealing with businesses. No individuals as is the case today.. There was no charge cards, no toll free #s, no UPS, (formally REA) certainly no method for aquiring payment other then CCA or cash.. We as well as other operations were at the mercy of the airlines.. Allot was based on good faith between the buyers and the sellers.. The herps were cheap, so replacements were just part of a normal course of running business.. I know, you and I have spoken about this as well..

I personally should have included you as a valuable customer, but I did not and as I remember , I owe you an apology which I think I may have even given... We had a big business David, the largest importers in the country, and not that I am making excuses, but sometimes one gets blindsighted... I am very glad you posted... Many years have gone by, and I am very happy that your still around as I am.. Thanks again David.. Jerry Tresser